love.me//eat.me

[sadhillock]

The Fire Pepper

​

The building that was now "The Fire Pepper" had been an old dance hall. Aged red brick and antique stone pillars held up the newly renovated roof. Jeremy had fallen in love with the building the moment he set his eyes on it, nearly half a year ago. He opted to keep the original wooden floors, scuffed with decades of dancing feet, and the large windows that ushered sunshine all throughout. The rest, of course, had to be gutted. A large industrial kitchen was made in the back, wooden tables were brought in, a bar was formed around the far right corner of the building. It had taken time, and a considerable amount of money, but finally, it was ready.


Jeremy retrieved the key for his new establishment and opened the door, taking in the smell of freshly waxed wood and drying paint. He paused, only for a moment, and closed his eyes. In his minds eye he could see the throngs of people, all eating at his tables, commenting on his food, in awe of his work. The thought alone gave him chills.


Heavy footsteps echoed behind him and he turned to see his best friend, and the new manager of Fire Pepper, Anthony. The short, fat man beamed at Jeremy and clapped his hands together. "Well, it's done."


"The ads are out?" Jeremy responded, cocking a brow. "It's only been two hours."





"Oh, you underestimate me," laughed Anthony as he made his way behind the new bar and poured himself a glass of bourbon. "I put fliers up, placed ads on Craigslist, and advertised everywhere I could think of in this piece of shit town. We'll have people storming through the door looking for a job before too long."


Jeremy approached the bar, a frown forming on his thin lips. He was tall and lean, clad in a blood red button down shirt and black slacks. His hair was long and black, straight and thick, and pulled into a simple pony tail. His almond-shaped brown eyes glared impatiently at his friend. "This piece of shit town is our new home," he reminded Anthony, his voice deceivingly sweet. "We are here to serve these people, not insult them."


Anthony shrugged. "Any town without a decent strip club doesn't amount to much in my book," he retorted. "But we'll see how this goes. Anything's better than Chicago, right?"


Jeremy laughed. "Yes, anything's better than Chicago." He sat himself at the bar opposite Anthony and slid one long finger over the polished wood. "Though we do have some fond memories there, don't we?"


"Yeah," breathed Anthony, almost in a sigh. "So now, what?"





Jeremy smiled simply. "We wait."

 

[sadhillock]

Jeremy's back was to the door as Luna entered. He looked up at his friend, who upon seeing the young girl, was grinning like a fool.


"Yes!" said Anthony, his voice suddenly chipper. He moved from behind the bar, elbowing Jeremy in the rib cage as he passed him. The pudgy man made his way towards Luna and extended a hand. "My name's Tony, Tony Camillo. I see you have one of my posters." He shot a glance back at Jeremy. "What position are you applying for, Miss...?"


Jeremy turned in his seat, one long leg extending out before him. He was a handsome man, younger than most of his colleagues. At 25 he had made a name for himself. He offered Luna a smile, lips barely parting to reveal perfectly white teeth.

 

[sadhillock]

Jeremy rose to his feet and approached his friend and the new prospective waitress. "I am the owner," he answered, before Anthony had a chance to. "My name is Jeremy Davis, Miss Valentine. It's a pleasure to meet you." As he spoke, his mind wandered back to the contracts he signed when he purchased. This was a small town, and Valentine surely couldn't be too popular of a surname here. "The owner of this establishment I believed was a Valentine as well, were they not?"


Anthony's gaze moved to the boy who stumbled in the door, then back to Luna. Jeremy nodded towards him, and Anthony took his leave of Luna and approached the new boy. "Hello there," he said pleasantly, "Welcome to the Fire Pepper. I'm Anthony. Are you here for a job interview?" He seemed unfazed by the sweat stains and bedhead.

 

[sadhillock]

"Your mother?" Jeremy repeated, eyebrows raising. "How wonderful. Would you be interested in seeing some of the renovations we've done? I'd be honored to give you a tour." His long hand swept gently across the room. The fact that this had once been owned by her family excited and intrigued him. Perhaps it was more than fate that had drawn this lovely young woman to his new establishment.


Anthony gave Dmitry a funny look. "A buss boy? Not unless you're under 18, or completely unqualified. Do you have any serving experience?" Though he was engaged in conversation with Dmitry, he glanced over his shoulder at Jeremy when he heard his friend offer a tour. You old devil, he thought to himself.

 

[sadhillock]

Jeremy smiled and extended his arm for Luna to take. "The floors are sturdy and give the place a vintage touch. I enjoy beautiful things with...experience." The last word was spoken more like a purr as he lead her past the bar and towards the kitchen. "We were able to work with the space we had," he noted. "I believe this is where the storage closets used to be?" The space was small, but boxed into sections, with each station using storage on multiple levels due to new racks on the walls. "I also remodeled the bathrooms," he said, leading her towards the hallway beside the kitchen. "This place was very well taken care of. You should give my regards to your mother for keeping up such an old building so well.


This close, he could smell her well. The sweet scent of a woman, and the slight sharpness of sweat. Beneath the sleeves of his silk shirt, goosebumps were rising on his arms. She would be a fine addition to his establishment.


Anthony clapped Dmitry on the shoulder. He had absolutely no idea where this 'Bob's Burgers' was, and frankly, didn't care. "Perfect, perfect!" His strong, rough hands pulled the young man forward slightly. "Let's go to the office. I have some paperwork for you to fill out and your uniform." Anthony started towards a door on the far side of the restaurant labeled 'Staff Only'. Inside was a plain desk, two chairs, and a laptop. The rest was bare. Tony shuffled through the desk and retrieved a stack of papers, then extended them to Dmitry. "I'll need you to fill these out for me."

 

[sadhillock]

"Oh, there's no question you will," purred Jeremy, patting her hand gently. "From the history of this building, this place is practically your heritage." He began to lead her towards the front entrance. "I'm planning a grand opening on Friday night. It will be a cocktail style party, open bar, with an assortment of hors d'oeuvres. Some of my acquaintances will be coming from out of state to help celebrate. I'd like you to be there, so I could introduce my new Lead Server." It wasn't even a question of if she wanted the job, it was a fact already in his mind. "Unless you have plans, of course..." His voice trailed off and his eyebrows rose, waiting for the answer he was expecting.


Anthony watched Dmitry as he filled out the paperwork. Simple boy, he thought, but not altogether unpleasant. Let's hope these rural folk are hard workers. "We're having an open house Friday to showcase the restaurant," he said simply. "I'd like you to work that night, helping distribute the food." Anthony opened a file cabinet and extracted a pressed white tuxedo shirt, still wrapped in plastic, and a red cummerbund also wrapped. "You're about a medium, I take it?" he said, extending the uniform towards Dmitry. "You'll get three sets of these. I expect to see them clean and pressed each night you come into work, understand?"

 

[sadhillock]

"Something... Nice." Jeremy smiled coyly at her. "I prefer the color red." The man got a sick satisfaction at the idea of showcasing this young girl to the people. He wanted to parade her about, show her off, and more importantly, stake his claim over her. "I'd like you to be here at seven," he said, "The party starts at seven-thirty."


Anthony smiled, happy to see how eager Dmitry was. "Seven, sharp," he responded. "Black dress shoes are to be worn with your uniform. I expect to see you clean shaven, properly groomed... And please, no strong cologne. Some of the patrons we expect to be coming have very sensitive noses and we don't want anything distracting from our food." The small plump man took the papers the boy had signed and slipped them into a folder laying on the desk, then started towards the door of the office and opened it for him. "If you have any questions between now and then," he extracted a small card from the inside of his jacket, "Here's my business card."